Roger Federer put on a commanding performance on Saturday to reach his fifth career Canadian final as he defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4 at the Toronto Masters.
The Swiss second seed and two-time champion in Canada will take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after the Frenchman rolled over rising star Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-3.
Tsonga, seeded 13th and loser to Federer in two previous finals, will be playing his first final in Canada, while Federer moved into his 120th career final.
Federer improved his 2014 record to 44 wins and eight defeats as he bids for a third title of the season after Dubai and Halle. The 29-year-old Tsonga will face off for his second Masters 1000 shield.
He claimed a Masters win at Paris Bercy in 2008, but lost in Paris and London in two other finals to Federer.
Venus rallies to win Venus Williams booked her spot in the Montreal WTA final by rallying to take a three-set win over sister Serena in their 25th career meeting.
Seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus benefited from nine Serena double faults en route to a 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3 victory at the $2.5 million hardcourt tournament.
Venus posted her first win over top seed and defending champion Serena since another three-set victory five years ago in Dubai.
“Serena is at her top level,” Venus said. “You can’t win every match. You can’t win them all.
“She’s number one. Nobody wants to play her. If you do, you have to play the match of your life.”
In the final, Venus will face third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland who beat unseeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova 7-6(1), 7-6(3).
Sania-Black in final Sania Mirza and Cara Black survived a thriller in the semifinals as they carved out a hard-earned 7-6(3), 3-6, 13-11 victory to set up a Rogers Cup doubles final against top-seeded Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.
The fourth-seeded Indo-Zimbabwean pair knocked out the second seeded Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei and China’s Peng Shuai in a contest that lasted an hour and 50 minutes.
With this victory, Sania and Cara ended a three-match losing streak in their head-to-head with Hsieh and Peng.
The results:
In Toronto:
ATP Rogers Cup: Semifinals: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-3; Roger Federer bt Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4.
In Montreal: WTA Rogers Cup: Semifinals: Venus Williams bt Serena Williams 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3; Agnieszka Radwanska bt Ekaterina Makarova 7-6(1), 7-6(3).
